Hotel Alameda Santiago

Po przespaniu pol dnia wybralysmy sie z Chila kupic jakis pamiatki z Chile. Wybralismy sie na targowisko niestety poza tanimi i tandetnymi pamiatkami z Indii i Chin ktore mozesz znalezc w kazdym zakatku swiata, nie znalezlismy nic godnego uwagi.

Wrocilimsy do mieszkania Antoniego zrobic pranie i kupic jedzienie na nasza wyprawe.

... is an election in early December and the race is a hotly contested one. My money is on Michelle Bachelet. Not only is her approval rating very high in the country, but she is both a pediatrician and a graduate of military studies. Does this bring to mind an army of killer AK47 wielding babies to anyone other than me?

I´m getting ahead of myself here. Before battling with killer infants we had Santiago to experience. The first impression was how striking the city ...

... We entered through a narrow port, were instructed to put our credit card or cash into a slot and the tilt-up door would open. Lou got a bit frustrated that the staff would not come out to meet him face to face, but we didn't realize it was a love hotel at that stage. The over-the-top security should have given us a clue. Broken glass embedded into the top of the stone walls is not the usual kind of welcome you'd expect from your average hotel ...

... A LIME?!". We did actually have a couple of contraband oranges which we gave up, not really worth the threat of a fine or imprisonment. Also a very scenic place to cross a border, high in the Andes, which were still very snowy and wintry.

Valparaiso, our first stop in Chile, was a real surprise to me. Guidebooks tend to write it off as a faded port town, past its best increasingly dicey in parts. We had a great weekend ...

... at night and we hadn’t booked any accommodation yet as our plans had changed at the last minute. Andy to the rescue again pointed us towards a place he had stayed at before and we all got a cab to a fantastic old mansion with enough room for all of us and all the facilities we could need.

Santiago itself reminds me more of American cities I have visited, it doesn’t have the same feel as other South American cities and it seems proud of that ...

Drive to Salto do Jacuí. Full day guided visit and visit to two different types of agate mines: open pit and underground mine. Geodes, chalcedony and enhidros, as well as a variety of mineral specimens are featured. Overnight in Salto do Jacuí.

These photos are of me preparing to start heading North ... Update: November 12, 2008 - How could I ever say goodbye. Not going to happen. These are pictures of my family in Brazil. Never will I ever say goodbye!!! I will see them again!

... waiting to be played. (Smiling) ... and from that, one can look at it in a number of ways with regards to belief. To believe is to know that the player or (God) will move me to where I need to be and do. To not believe is to sit in wonder of what good is an instrument if there is no one to play it. In which case I could just make-up something to play ... it's just that I don't feel the need to do that ...

... vocabulary) we went shopping in the supermarket to practice. My teacher's way-cool!!! I can now understand and speak a lot more than when I arrived. I can hear and read about 1/2 of words in conversations, print and TV, but it's still not enough to understand the conversations well. Sometimes not knowing just one word can make a big difference. I still need a lot more, but its coming and everyone compliments me on ...

Like most of the world this morning, we were both extremely hungover.

I felt pretty rough, but it was immediately obvious that Katie was feeling much worse than I was, she looked absolutely bloody awful!

After looking after her for a little bit I looked at my watch, to see that it was only 9am.

I didn't fancy my chances of getting back to sleep because it was very light in the room and also very warm & ...